Pauper Players Presents “The Drowsy Chaperone”

With last year’s successful showing of “Les Misérables,” the Pauper Players have set extremely high expectations for this fall’s musical. Luckily, the student organization has a plan for a musical that will draw in a large crowd: “The Drowsy Chaperone.”

“The Drowsy Chaperone” is a parody of early musicals from the 1920s-1940s, but its narrator is from modern times. The character relives his favorite fictional musical, also called “The Drowsy Chaperone,” and comments on the musical as the characters he imagines come to life in his own living room.

“It’s very funny. It’s moderately offensive. It’s big and fun,” said Jordan Hankins, senior and director of the show.

One characteristic of the musical that contributes to the energy of the show is the inclusion of dancing. “We don’t usually do dance-heavy shows, so it’s kind of a new endeavor for us,” said Hankins.

There is apparently a very large dance number at the end of act one that the cast members, especially Elizabeth Budinof cannot wait for the audience to experience.

One of the biggest goals of Pauper Players is to make theatre performances a campus-wide event, not exclusive to theatre majors. This was something that Hankins wanted to make clear in this year’s Pauper Players production.

“I’m a business major. A lot of people are communications majors. We have one band kid in it. We almost never have theatre majors participate, mostly because they are involved in their own productions. They’ll get involved on the technical side. The professors encourage them to because it’s very good technical experience,” said Hankins.

The diversity in student participants is not restricted to differences in majors.

“We have more Greeks who are auditioning now. We’re really working towards getting

everyone we can involved with the shows,” said Hankins, who herself is a member of a sorority.

One group of people that has really stepped up to the plate this year is the freshmen. According to Hankins, almost half of the cast is made up of freshmen. “They’re really amazing. It’s been awesome to work with them. I’m so lucky they showed up to audition,” Hankins said.

Kurestin Miller is one freshmen that is participating in the Pauper Players production.

“The musical has been a lot of hard work. We practice up to four hours a day during the week and even more on the weekends. However, it’ll be worth it in the end. The show is going to be amazing,” Miller said.

For those interested in attending what is sure to be an entertaining musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone” opens on Thurs., Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. with additional shows at 7:30 p.m. Fri., Nov. at 7 and 5 p.m. on Sat., Nov. 8. Tickets are $5 for students.